Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google now says its guaranteed ads, the local service ads, the reviews are no longer guaranteed. Google Lens is now being used on Google Image search – finally. Google says clicking on your own search results won’t help or hurt your site. Google said the 50,000 URL limit is based on the location URL, not alternative URLs. Google is testing more sitelinks designs. I also posted the weekly SEO video recap where I dive deep into the big news this week.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Google: Clicking On Your Site In Google Search Won’t Hurt Or Help Your Rankings
One of the oldest myths in the Google SEO-verse is that clicking on your search results in Google Search will help you rank better. Google does not and has never used click data for ranking purposes (with the exception of a short period of Google+ data being used in Google Search).
Google Guaranteed Local Ads Adds Reviews Not Guaranteed Disclaimer
Google has added a label on the Google Guaranteed Local Service Ads reviews to say the reviews are not guaranteed. This I guess comes as no surprise with all the Google Local Service Ads spam and junk we have been noticing recently.
Google: Sitemap 50,000 Limit Based On Location URLs, Not Alternative URLs
We know that each XML sitemap file can contain a maximum of 50,000 URLs but what is counted as the 50,000 URLs? John Mueller was asked if Google counts both the location URL and the alternative URL in the 50,000 limits. John said it is just the location URL.
Google Image Search Now Uses Google Lens
Google Images at images.google.com now uses Google Lens when you click on the upload a photo icon. This has been coming for a long long time and is finally fully here.
Google Tests More New Sitelink Designs
Google loves to test new designs and interfaces for the Sitelinks it shows in the snippets of its search results. This one shows larger rectangular curved buttons under the snippet to the sitelink.
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google MUM Gives Featured Snippets Consensus, Google Breaks Bad, Ranking Tremors, Lens, Spam & More
Google launched new features in search, one where Google is using MUM to give featured snippets a consensus – it is pretty cool. Google also released new about this result features and expanded content advisories in search…
Yellow Hallway At Google NYC
Here is a photo of one of the typical hallways you’d find in the Google New York City office. This one is very yellow, with a G super logo in black on the door. It makes me think of the yellow submar
Other Great Search Threads:
The documentation for page_location in GA4 has been updated with a recommendation that you don’t override it, or you may see empty values., Charles Farina on Twitter
That sounds a lot like the hoster or CDN blocking Google’s crawlers., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
SEO and the future world without cookies
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Google Analytics 4 Referral Traffic – The Complete Guide, Data Driven U
8 Important Landing Page Metrics (and How to Track Them), Databox Blog
How to Check Your Google Analytics Data is Accurate, Measure Minds Group
Industry & Business
Google Employees Sense a ‘Real Vibe Change’ as Hiring Freeze Continues, Tech
Google to pay $60m fine for misleading Australians about collecting location data, The Guardian
Links & Content Marketing
This Is Why No One Uses Your Content [Rose-Colored Glasses], Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
Hack to Get Back to Original GBP (GMB) Dashboard, Online Ownership
Wear OS to support offline Google Maps navigation, Soundcloud and Deezer soon, TechNave
Mobile & Voice
How to Use Reminders on Your Google Home, Make Use Of
Google’s next steps for Wear OS include offline Maps navigation and a Play Store redesign, Android Police
SEO
Get to know the Wix Site Inspection tool, Wix SEO Hub
SEO for Animated GIFs, Practical Ecommerce
SEO Split Test Result: Adding Unicode Characters to the Meta Description, Semrush
6 Things I Love About Zapier’s SEO Strategy: A Case Study, Ahrefs
PPC
Google Ad Customizers: The How and Why, Search Engine Journal
How Google Ads for Cleaning Business is Helpful?, PPC Expo
Search Features
Google Search shows where games can be streamed, 9to5Google
Other Search
Let’s talk accessibility, Search Off the Record
Feedback:
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